Cole-Hamilton: SNP MSP should withdraw BBC fake news jibe

Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton has today submitted a parliamentary motion calling on an SNP MSP to withdraw their public declaration that the BBC represents fake news.

In response to the BBC launching a new initiative to help young people distinguish what is real and what is so-called fake news, SNP MSP Gordon Macdonald took to twitter to denounce the flagship BBC Scotland news programme Reporting Scotland, saying its logo should be the symbol for fake news.

Alex Cole-Hamilton commented:

"The BBC is clearly working hard to help children and young people identify fake news. This is a generation bombarded with information of mixed repute so such heavyweight interventions should be welcomed.

"We need to take young people's understanding of fake news seriously because it represents a very real threat to our democracy. These falsehoods are purely intended to confuse, corrode our understanding of what is actually going on and obstruct genuine scrutiny.

"People will therefore be very concerned to see an SNP MSP instead denounce the BBC as fake news. Gordon Macdonald should withdraw this irresponsible jibe. It is straight out of the Trump playbook and we have seen how elected politicians dismissing reputable news sources can have real world consequences."

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